


Stitches

by sanserifnotes (tuesdayafternoon)



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Knitting, M/M, Merthur - Freeform, merlinchristmasfest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-02
Updated: 2015-01-02
Packaged: 2018-03-04 21:34:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3091052
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tuesdayafternoon/pseuds/sanserifnotes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Arthur has a secret – a very secretive secret that Merlin knows absolutely nothing about.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [this prompt](https://33.media.tumblr.com/dbd046cc0aafc4a1d0627b240c7580dd/tumblr_ncm0mo0q6g1s3p04yo1_500.jpg) for [merlinchristmasfest](http://merlinchristmasfest.tumblr.com/). Also available on [my blog](http://sanserifnotes.tumblr.com/).

It was Arthur’s secret.

Something that he daren’t share with Merlin for fear that he’d laugh at him, or that Merlin would tell Gwen, who would laugh at him, or that Merlin knowing would somehow attract a fleet of velociraptors. Or something.

In all honesty, Merlin wasn’t sure why Arthur kept it a secret, or tried to. After all, after being gifted a throw rug and a summer bolero, Gwen had guessed what it was and shared her thoughts with Merlin, who hadn’t laughed, and the only velociraptors that could possibly be attracted because of the secret were the ones who wanted a nice beanie or pair of gloves.

Arthur Pendragon, Merlin’s gym-going, respected-executive, lovable-prat boyfriend, could knit.

Between the original realisation and Merlin finding the bag Arthur used to store his knitting equipment stashed away in the cabinet with moisture damage (which didn’t open so easily), Merlin decided that Arthur keeping his hobby, something he clearly loved, a secret was just another Arthur Thing – like the way he’d quickly change channels when Merlin caught him watching feel-good movies (especially ones with Steve Martin in them), or how he’d eat all the mint chocolates in the Favourites pack despite not liking them, since he knew Merlin didn’t like them either. Like it was something that didn’t fit the image of how he thought Merlin saw him, and so it had to be locked away. Merlin felt a little sad that, even after living together for two months and dating for a year more than that, he still needed to convince Arthur otherwise, but that would have to be something to worry about at a decent hour.

Right now, Merlin was cold. He’d woken to find Arthur’s side of the bed empty, so he’d rolled over and fumbled around for his phone to check the time; the blindingly backlit numbers told him it was a little before four in the morning – just before he dropped said phone on his face.

“Arthur?” Merlin had called softly, seeing the living room light sniffing under the bedroom door. “Arthur?” Getting no answer in return, Merlin swung his legs over the side of the bed, pulling the woollen blanket at the foot of the bed around his shoulders.

He’d padded across the hallway in socked feet, and that’s when he heard the soft clicking sound – a plastic sort of sound, but quick and purposeful. Merlin smiled, even though his head still felt a little dopey with sleep.

Arthur sat in the armchair underneath the living room lamp, completely wrapped up in the task in front of him. Merlin watched him, leaning against the door jamb; foot after foot of wool unravelled from the ball of yarn to become stitch after calculated stitch, row after precise row at the end of Arthur’s knitting needles. The strands of deep blue, thin and flimsy, steadily wove together to form something warm and comforting. Merlin felt something shift in his chest, and for a while, he simply stood there, watching.

Soon, however, sleep began to tug at Merlin’s consciousness, and his nose began to run from the cold.

“Come back to bed,” Merlin said quietly.

Arthur jumped like a startled rabbit and ineffectually tried to hide his knitting by stuffing it down the side of the armchair. “Nothing!” he said, too loudly. Then, catching his breath, he added, “Geez, Merlin, what are you doing awake?”

“I was cold,” Merlin complained, pulling the blanket tighter around himself. “Come back to bed.”

“Did you…?” Arthur gestured vaguely. “Did you see me, um…?”

Merlin could’ve called him on it, told him, yes, that he had seen him knitting; yes, he’d known for a while; and no, it wasn’t anything to be ashamed or embarrassed about, especially when it came to him. But that would have taken time spent out of bed and energy Merlin didn’t really have, so he asked, “What?” instead and feigned innocence.

“Never mind,” Arthur said quickly. “I’ll be in in a minute.”

Merlin turned to wander back to their bedroom, but not before casting a glance over his shoulder at Arthur hurriedly shoving the yarn, needles, and his work so far into the moisture-damaged cabinet. Merlin shook his head fondly, incredulously, at the ginormous idiot moving around the living room.

Merlin was just dozing off when he felt Arthur slide into bed, fitting himself snug and warm against Merlin’s back.

“You okay?” Merlin mumbled.

“Yeah,” replied Arthur. “I just had some extra paperwork – no.” He sighed. “I’m making something. I wanted to have it ready by Christmas, but it’s taking longer than I thought. It’s fine.”

“Okay.”

There was a pregnant pause, and even in the pitch darkness, Merlin was sure Arthur was blushing as he said, “It’s for you.”

Merlin linked his fingers through Arthur’s, and brought them to his lips. “Thank you,” he said, and with that, fell asleep.

(Come Christmas morning, when Merlin unwrapped a blue knitted jumper and Arthur admitted that he’d knitted it himself, the only laughter had been Arthur’s own – at himself, for being silly about the whole thing and at Merlin as he tried to get the jumper over his head – and any velociraptors kindly kept a safe distance.)


	2. Bonus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Merlin and Arthur spend Christmas abroad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had quite a bit of trouble writing cute, wintery stuff for the merlinchristmas fest, mainly because it's summer over here ^^; This was going to be my entry, originally, but I decided going with something a little more in-line with the prompt.

“Whose dumb idea was it to not take the traditional Christmas jumper photograph for the card for my mum and your dad _before_ we came to Australia for the holidays? Not mentioning any names, but I’m looking at you, Mr We-Can’t-Do-It-Before-We-Go-It’s-Not-Christmas-Yet.”

“Hey, I didn’t see you complaining too much about spending Christmas somewhere warm, _Mer_ lin.”

“Yes, but I didn’t sign up for wearing a jumper in 37-degree heat, either.”

“The air conditioner is working as hard as it – oh, for god’s sake.”

(The card they send to their parents this year doesn’t show the noisy air conditioner of their beachfront unit rattling away, or the bin growing more full of empty XXXX tins ([XXXX beer](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castlemaine_XXXX), that is – not anything else), or the tan lines across their feet that the locals call a ‘thong tan’ (much to their horror), or the sand in places sand ought not to be. What it does show, however, is a very blonde Arthur, hair bleached by the sun, and a very brown Merlin, both in Christmas t-shirts and not a single jumper to be seen.)


End file.
